B2

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Priya's ERP Challenge

technology
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Word Bank

These words appear in the reading and the exercises below. Hover or click a word to see its definition.

contactless adj.Working without physical touchWe pay for most things with contactless cards now. contactless payment n.A payment made by touching a card or phone to a machineContactless payments increased a lot during the pandemic. cashless adj.Using electronic payments instead of coins or notesMore cities are moving towards a cashless economy. cashless economy n.An economy where most payments are electronicIn a cashless economy, people rarely use notes or coins. electronic payment n.A payment made by card, phone or computer, not with cashElectronic payments are now accepted almost everywhere. clear the cache phrasal verbDelete temporary data to improve performanceIf your phone is slow, try clearing the cache. free up space phrasal verbRemove unnecessary files to create more storageDeleting old photos can help with freeing up space on your device. run out of storage verb phraseHave no more space left on the deviceI need to delete some apps because I ran out of storage. compress files verb phraseMake files smaller to save space or send them more easilyYou should compress your files before emailing them. reboot v.Restart a device to fix problems or apply updatesIf your computer freezes, try rebooting it. freeze v.Stop responding and not work until restarted or fixedMy laptop froze while I was working, so I had to restart it. troubleshoot v.Try to find and fix an issueThe technician troubleshot the internet connection issue. overheat v.Get too hot and may stop working properlyMy phone overheated because I was using it in the sun. solar farms n.Large-scale setups of solar panels that capture sunlight and convert it into electrical energyWe see solar farms across the land, using natural energy to make cleaner electricity. wind turbines n.Tall structures with blades that spin with the wind to generate electricityWind turbines generate clean electricity from natural wind power.
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Full vocabulary notes (examples, collocations, related words)
contactless adjective · in the reading — Working without physical touch We pay for most things with contactless cards now.Collocations: contactless card, contactless payment, contactless technology, contactless terminalRelated: tap-and-go, wirelessNotes: Common with payment, card, technology.
contactless payment noun · in the reading — A payment made by touching a card or phone to a machine Contactless payments increased a lot during the pandemic.Collocations: make a contactless payment, accept contactless payments, contactless payment limit, contactless payment methodRelated: card payment, tap paymentContrasts: cash paymentNotes: Very common in everyday shopping.
cashless adjective · in the reading — Using electronic payments instead of coins or notes More cities are moving towards a cashless economy.Collocations: cashless society, cashless economy, cashless payments, cashless systemRelated: digital, electronic (for payments)Contrasts: cash-basedNotes: Often used with society, economy, system.
cashless economy noun — An economy where most payments are electronic In a cashless economy, people rarely use notes or coins.Collocations: move towards a cashless economy, fully cashless economy, cashless economy model, cashless economy trendRelated: cashless societyContrasts: cash-based economyNotes: Useful for discussing future of money.
electronic payment noun — A payment made by card, phone or computer, not with cash Electronic payments are now accepted almost everywhere.Collocations: make an electronic payment, accept electronic payments, electronic payment system, electronic payment methodRelated: digital payment, online paymentContrasts: cash paymentNotes: Good general term for non-cash payments.
clear the cache phrasal verb · in the reading — Delete temporary data to improve performance If your phone is slow, try clearing the cache.Collocations: clear the cache, clearing the cacheRelated: free up space, delete temporary filesNotes: Often used when devices run slowly or apps malfunction.
free up space phrasal verb · in the reading — Remove unnecessary files to create more storage Deleting old photos can help with freeing up space on your device.Collocations: free up space, freeing up space on your deviceRelated: clear the cache, delete filesContrasts: run out of storageNotes: Commonly used with: on your device, on your phone, on your hard drive.
run out of storage verb phrase · in the reading — Have no more space left on the device I need to delete some apps because I ran out of storage.Collocations: run out of storage, ran out of storage, run out of spaceRelated: have no storage left, storage is fullContrasts: free up spaceNotes: Same pattern as: run out of time, run out of battery.
compress files verb phrase · in the reading — Make files smaller to save space or send them more easily You should compress your files before emailing them.Collocations: compress files, compress your files before emailingRelated: reduce file size, zip filesContrasts: decompress files, extract filesNotes: Creates .zip or .rar archives.
reboot verb · in the reading — Restart a device to fix problems or apply updates If your computer freezes, try rebooting it.Collocations: reboot a device, reboot your computer, reboot itRelated: restart, power cycleNotes: More technical than restart, but used similarly.
freeze verb · in the reading — Stop responding and not work until restarted or fixed My laptop froze while I was working, so I had to restart it.Collocations: the device froze, my phone froze, the program frozeRelated: stop responding, hang, crashContrasts: work properly, respondNotes: Irregular verb: freeze, froze, frozen. Can describe devices or programs.
troubleshoot verb · in the reading — Try to find and fix an issue The technician troubleshot the internet connection issue.Collocations: troubleshoot a problem, troubleshoot the issue, troubleshoot the connectionRelated: diagnose, fix, resolveNotes: Past tense: troubleshot. Often used by IT professionals and support teams.
overheat verb · in the reading — Get too hot and may stop working properly My phone overheated because I was using it in the sun.Collocations: the device overheated, my phone overheatedRelated: get too hotNotes: Can happen due to heavy use, hot environments, or battery issues.
solar farms noun · in the reading — Large-scale setups of solar panels that capture sunlight and convert it into electrical energy We see solar farms across the land, using natural energy to make cleaner electricity.Collocations: build solar farms, solar farm installationRelated: solar panels, solar energyNotes: Always plural when referring to installations.
wind turbines noun · in the reading — Tall structures with blades that spin with the wind to generate electricity Wind turbines generate clean electricity from natural wind power.Collocations: install wind turbines, wind turbine farm, offshore wind turbinesRelated: wind power, wind energyNotes: Always plural when referring to multiple units.

Reading

Read the text, then try the exercises below.

Priya Raman sat at her desk at Volta Drive in Gliwice, staring at a laptop that had frozen for the third time that morning. As head of IT, she was leading the launch of a new ERP system, and the first stage, purchasing and stock, was due in eight weeks. Her team of five was testing it on the company’s older computers, and the results were not good. The machines would freeze in the middle of a report, and one had started to overheat whenever it ran the new software. ‘What is the worst thing that could happen here?’ Priya asked her team. ‘We go live, and the system stops Paweł’s production line.’ They spent the afternoon trying to troubleshoot the problem: they cleared the cache, installed updates and rebooted every machine twice. On top of the ERP, the canteen was going cashless next month, so her team also had to set up new contactless payment machines. Some plant staff were already calling it ‘something IT is doing to us’.

At four o’clock, her friend Olivia Brennan put her head round the door. They had worked together in Dublin, and Olivia knew exactly how busy Priya was. ‘I’ll be honest with you,’ she said. ‘Can you just quickly fix this?’ Her presentation for the managing director and the German partner was the next morning, and her tablet had run out of storage. It was full of videos of riders on Volta e-bikes passing solar farms and wind turbines, filmed for the new brand campaign. Priya laughed, because she heard that question ten times a day, but she helped anyway. She showed Olivia how to compress files and move the old ones to the company server to free up space. ‘So, to confirm,’ Priya said as Olivia left, ‘you will back up those videos tonight.’

Fill in the Blank

Pick the word that best completes each sentence. The sentence may use a different form of the word (a plural, or -ed / -ing).

Matching

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